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I make a living by making some people's lives easier to live. Because English can be confusing, it's sometimes better to get live instruction that will make the language come alive. In this lesson you will learn new vocabulary by really learning one word.

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Transcript 

TRANSCRIPT:

Hi. Welcome again to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam. Today, we're going to look at some vocabulary that gets students confused, because the words are so similar that people don't know what to do with them.

Let's look at these words. First, listen carefully to how I say them. As a verb: "live". Of course, the noun is: "life". The adjective: "live". Verb: "live"; adjective: "live"; adjective, a different adjective: "alive"; a noun: "living"; an adjective: "living"; a gerund: "living". Okay, so here are your words. Now, people will often say: "What's the different between 'live' and 'alive', or 'live' and 'alive'?" Okay, so let's look at all of these.

First of all, what does it mean to live? So I'll add this here. "To live". Basically, "to live" means to not be dead. Very simply put. Right? To live means to eat, to drink, to breathe, to go to a club and dance, to sing. Whatever you think is living. For example, you go to work, you make money, that is your life. You live your life to help your family or your friends, or your community. Okay?

"Life" is everything, everything that we do. From the minute you wake up to the minute you go to sleep. Well, even in your sleep, it's still life. Right? You're still living. So, from the minute you're born to the minute you die, that's life.

Now, "live" is completely different from "live". "Live", when we say something is live, we mean at the same time and usually in person. For example, you go to a concert, a music concert, you're seeing the band perform live, in front of you, at the same time. Anything else, if you listen to music on your iPod, or MP3 player, or your phone, then you are listening to a recorded performance. You're listening to recorded music. If you're at the stadium and you're seeing the band on the guitars, and drums, and whatever, you're seeing it live. Now, if you're on Skype and you're speaking to someone on the other side of the planet. Is this conversation happening live? Yes, because you're doing it at the same time. But if you record your video message, send it to your friend by email, he or she opens it and sees the video, then it's not live. Then it's a recording.

"Alive". "Alive" is the state of living, of being not dead again. Right? Usually it's a feeling, it's an adjective. It talks about a feeling or a state of being. I'll give you an example in a second.

Now, "living" has many uses. Oh, I forgot to add one here. We'll start with the verb. As a verb, it is basically the continuous form of "to live". For example, in the present perfect, continuous: "I have been living in my apartment building for three months." It means three months I started... Three months ago, I started to live there, and I still live there now. The continuous.

As a gerund. We can use "living" as a gerund. "Living with cancer is a very bad way to live." Basically. "Living with cancer is very difficult." So, again... Let me just write this out, because you might not know this. A gerund is the "ing" form of a verb, but we use it like a noun. Okay? "Living in Canada is sometimes difficult because it's so cold, but other times, it's nice."

As an adjective. We use "living" as an adjective to talk about something that is alive. Right? So, for example, a living creature. Any living creature is anything that can die. A rock is a nonliving creature. This marker is a nonliving creature. I am a living creature. I hope you are living creatures, too.

We can also use "living" to describe somebody's state. For example: "A living legend." When we talk about a person and we call him or her a legend, it means they're very famous, and their story is very long, and everybody knows it. And if we say: "A living legend", then this person is still alive today. So, for example, some people think that Nelson Mandela is a legend, what he did in South Africa. So he is a living legend. We can learn from him directly. Good.

This one may be a little bit surprising: "living" as a noun. We say: "You make a living." Notice the article "a". What does it mean if you're making a living? "Living" here means income. Every day, you go to work, you work hard, you get a paycheque to take home to your family. You are making a living.

Great. So, now we know what all of these words mean. Let me give you some example sentences.

"To live". Okay? "It is important to live life to the fullest." Basically means live every day like there is no tomorrow. Sing, laugh, love, dance, shout to the skies if that's what works for you. Right? But live life every day like it's your last; enjoy it. Life: "Life is very mysterious." I can't explain it to you, but I think you understand. Life is very mysterious. All kinds of strange things happen in it; some good, some bad, some neutral, maybe. Live: "The best live performance I have ever seen was Pink Floyd." I saw them at the Exhibition Centre in downtown Toronto. Best live performance I have ever seen. Think about what was the best live performance you have ever seen. Alive. Now, personally... Again, I'm from Toronto, Canada. Winter is coming now, it's very, very cold. And I think: when do I feel the most alive? When I'm sitting on a beach somewhere, under sunshine, I hear the waves coming, I'm drinking a nice little cocktail with a fruit in it. That makes me feel alive. Winter, not so much. Living. "I'm an English teacher. That is how I make my living." 

We already spoke about Nelson Mandela, he's a living legend. I told you: "Living with cancer or living with any disease is very terrible, really." I shouldn't use it as an example, but it is one. And: "I don't necessarily enjoy living in Canada in the winter, because it's so cold." But there you have it. That's how you do it. Okay, if you're not sure about what these words mean, you want a little bit more practice, go to www.engvid.com. There's a quiz there. If you're watching on YouTube, don't forget to subscribe to my channel. But also go to www.engvid.com, do the quiz. If you have any questions, put them in the comments section. And I'll see you again real soon. Thanks.